St. Paul, Minn. - In honor of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the Minnesota Senate and House of Representatives People of Color and Indigenous (POCI) caucus released the following statement:
“For far too long, Americans have been taught an incomplete and almost exclusively white and Euro-centric narrative of the history of our nation that has largely excluded an accurate retelling of the history and treatment of Indigenous communities.
Overcoming mistrusts and inequality will require educating ourselves about Native traditions and demonstrating that we promote and value the teachings and understanding of Native American history.
Today, the members of the POCI caucus, in partnership with our Indigenous Leaders: Senator Mary Kunesh (Standing Rock Lakota), Representative Jamie Becker-Finn (Leech Lake Ojibwe), and Representative Heather Keeler (Yankton Sioux and Eastern Shoshone), celebrate those who keep the memories, traditions, and cultures alive, those who have had the courage and determination to do the work to keep families and communities together, those who are teachers, mentors, healers, and those who are forging new paths of resilience and success within Native Nations and the community at large.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day is about telling a complete and accurate story of the history of Minnesota and of our nation— one that cannot be told truthfully without centering the lives, stories, and voices of Indigenous Peoples.
Every Minnesotan deserves the opportunity to thrive, be advocated for, and to have their voices heard. For Indigenous Peoples’ Day and every other day, we celebrate, honor, and uplift the culture, heritage, and history of Minnesota’s Indigenous communities.”
The People of Color & Indigenous (POCI) Caucus includes Reps. Esther Agbaje (59B), Jamie Becker-Finn (42B), Cedrick Frazier (45A), Aisha Gomez (62B), Hodan Hassan (Chair 62A), Kaohly Her (64A), Athena Hollins (66B), Fue Lee (59A), Carlos Mariani (65B), Rena Moran (65A), Mohamud Noor (60B), Ruth Richardson (52B), John Thompson (67A), Samantha Vang (40B), Jay Xiong (67B), Tou Xiong (53A), and Senators Bobby Joe Champion (59), Omar Fateh (62), Melisa López Franzen (49), Foung Hawj (67), Mary Kunesh (41), Patricia Torres Ray (Chair, 63).
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